December 10, 2011

Here’s an article from the Los Angeles Times that I found very interesting. At first I read this thinking, “Great, a good article about nursing for a change.” Then I reread the article and had a change of heart. It seems that California, a state with a legally mandated nurse-to-patient ratio, is seeing more growth in the nursing field than any other state. Imagine that–hmmm, I wonder why that might be?

Then the Rand Corporation goes public to announce THE END OF THE NURSING SHORTAGE is at hand! But not until 2030. Isn’t next year 2012? Sounds like a lengthy shortage to me.

Then, this article talks about a Cardiac nurse, a Nurse Practitioner, and a Research nurse who wants to be a Nurse Practitioner. Where are the lowly bedside nurses? Why are we never consulted or included in these events?

I think I must be extremely biased, but you read the article and make your own conclusions. Let me know what you think of this article, won’t you? Maybe I am way off track, but I don’t think so.

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If the trend continues, say researchers at the Rand Corp., there may be enough nurses by 2030 to meet the projected needs of aging baby boomers and the expansion of the healthcare system.

Lauren Mills’ counselor in college pushed her to consider nursing. She heeded the advice, graduated from Cal State Long Beach in 2007 and now works with cardiac patients at an Orange County hospital. It’s proved a challenging and gratifying choice, said Mills, now 27.

“You are using your brain and in a way you are using your heart too,” she said. “You feel good when you go home. You feel you made a difference.”

Increasing numbers of women like Mills are helping swell the ranks of registered nurses, easing chronic shortages in both California and the nation, according to a study released Monday by the Rand Corp.

Nationwide, the number of registered nurses ages 23 to 26 grew from 102,000 in 2002 to 165,000 in 2009, according to the study. The current cohort of young nurses is expected to be the largest ever, the study said.

If the trend continues, there may be enough nurses by 2030 to meet the projected needs of aging baby boomers and the expansion of the healthcare system, researchers said.

“Compared to where nursing supply was just a few years ago, the change is incredible,” said David Auerbach, lead author of the study. “If it keeps going, it turns everything on its head and it’s a major revolution.”

California has seen an even more dramatic rise in the number of new nurses, said Joanne Spetz, a professor at the Institute for Health Policy Studies at UC San Francisco. “We are seeing a lot of young people entering the field, which is fabulous. These are the people we need to be moving into the nursing workforce.”

More than 11,500 people graduated from California nursing schools in 2010, up from 5,300 in 2002, according to a report Spetz did for the California Board of Registered Nursing. Much of that is due to a concerted effort by hospitals, foundations and policymakers to expand nursing school slots, she said.

Researchers previously predicted that the U.S. could be short as many as 400,000 registered nurses by 2020. In California, experts believed that the state could see a shortage of about 89,000 by 2030…[read more]